


Written in the Stars

by sugarberry



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Cannon but not really, Crushes, Developing Relationship, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friendship, Growing Up, Love, Male-Female Friendship, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader-Insert, Self-Insert, Slice of Life, Volleyball
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29649858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarberry/pseuds/sugarberry
Summary: A promising young volleyball player was what her family liked to call her, her whole galaxy and world revolved around her family. They meant the whole world to her.As she grew up she built more friendships and connections beyond her family, slowly expanding her once tiny galaxy to the boys she can truly call her friends.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Reader, Iwaizumi Hajime/Reader, Kageyama Tobio/Reader, Kuroo Tetsurou/Reader, Oikawa Tooru/Reader
Kudos: 7





	1. Polaris

The world as you knew it revolved around your mom, dad, grandpa and uncle Ukai and (obviously) volleyball. They were your whole world and your whole galaxy. Ever since you were even able to remember you have always been playing around with a volleyball. Always remembering your grandpa’s wise saying that “Volleyball isn't a game where you "carry" the ball. It's only touched for a mere fraction of a second. In that instance when you control it, the ball becomes like an extension of your body”.

If someone were to tell you at the fragile age of 5 that volleyball was the only sport there was in this world, you would actually believe them. You have literally grown up with that yellow and blue ball. It was way too big in your hands at first (though it is still very large in your hands, even now) but it strangely brought you comfort. 

Your parents would often bring you to visit your grandpa and uncle in the Miyagi Prefecture before you were officially enrolled into elementary school and during those years you would like to believe that you were really honing your craft. Even though all you ever did was toss it up into the air and catch it with the occasional bump here and there but in all honesty, you were just way too small back then to ever actually do something that resembled the sport. 

However, the compliments you gained from your family boosted your childish ego and it made you love the sport even more. They made you feel like you were a natural at this and that you were born to be a volleyball player.

To be honest, you don’t even remember when you first started playing with the a volleyball. All you know is that as soon as you were able to properly walk and run with your little wobbly legs, you were already running after that same yellow and blue ball. 

Whenever you were at your grandpa’s house he’d always have volleyball reruns playing in the background, even though you had little to no idea what was actually happening it fascinated you. It was also super funny to hear the snarky commentary that came from your grandpa, mom and uncle. 

I mean those three were related after all.

Travelling from Tokyo to the Miyagi was the highlight of your years as a young child. You would be sitting in your car seat at the back of your parent’s car listening to them humming to a song playing from the radio. Watching the scenery change from the bustling city of Tokyo to the quiet scenery of Miyagi.

Aside from being able to always see your family back in Miyagi, this has got to be your favourite part of travelling. Witnessing how happy your mom and dad were and seeing how in love they were made your little heart happy. Though you were clearly too young to even understand or know what love truly was, this very car ride is what you thought it ought to be. 

The little “I love you’s” that you’d hear your parents whisper to each other and the light that shined in their eyes whenever they looked at each other, that was love before you even knew that there was such a word that existed. Your parents were your north star, a goal and an ideal, a guide that would lead you when you got lost along the way. Looking at them from the back seat of the car, you have always seen smiles and have only ever felt the warmth from the love they had for each other.

You could say that the first 5 years of your life were nothing but sunshines and rainbows filled with all the love your family gave you and all the love that you gave to them. 

* * *

As you turned six years old, it was finally nearing the time for you to enrol into elementary school. It was definitely something you were excited for but it was also something that made you sad and scared. 

Knowing that you’d have less time and freedom to go visit family back home in Miyagi made you sad but also not being able to be around the comfort that your parents had made you at home made you even sadder.

The months leading up to the first day of school were definitely a whirlwind. You had heard from your parents one day during breakfast that you would be having a new neighbour soon. 

As you contemplated eating spinach today, you wondered about whether or not you’ll be able to meet someone your age because of all the adults that surrounded you and your best friend, the volleyball that you basically carried around with you everywhere.

A few days had passed and you were awakened by voices.

“Please place these boxes in the bedroom down the hall”.

“Also, place those boxes in the kitch--- Kuroo Tetsurou! Stop running around the lawn and come help over here”.

“Ok ok yes I will dad” said a boy that very much sounded like a child.

Upon hearing that voice you leapt out of bed and ran out to see your mom and dad at the dining table talking about the commotion happening outside.

“Mom, dad. Did you hear that? Didn’t it sound as if the neighbours next door had a child around my age?” you said excitedly.

Your parents knew how much you wanted to meet someone your age because all the people you hung out with had an average age of like 40. 

“Yes sweetie, we heard. Maybe when they’re finally settled in we can go and pay them a visit, to see if they need anything or even need any help” said your mom smiling at you.

“OOOO YES” you giggled in utter happiness not knowing how much your lack of interaction with other children had actually affected you.

You were basically bouncing off the walls and could barely sit down and focus on eating your arch-enemy the spinach. After the meal (but it honestly felt like a showdown between you and that spinach) you quickly had your mom dress you in your [favourite yellow long sleeve dress](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JCLWG8C92-cOnbn2uWls8xJQki328l9ScbD-Z862BjM/edit?usp=sharing), since it was still a bit chilly outside.

Once you got ready, you slipped on your socks and your shoes as quickly as possible eager to take a peek at the new boy next door.

You quickly ran outside saying that you’ll be playing with your volleyball out in the front yard to your parents at which they both just laughed, visibly noting how excited you were.

You walked out of your porch with your volleyball in the pocket of your elbow, tip toeing to see above the tall wall wondering if there was anyone outside on your new neighbours’ lawn. To your disappointment, it seems that the moving truck had long departed and all the voices you heard this early morning had already started bustling inside the once empty house.

You start bumping the volleyball on your forearms, a new skill that your grandpa had taught you before you left Miyagi during your last visit. You twinge at the pain as it hit your forearms, not used to the ball hitting your arms like that. You were nowhere near perfecting this skill yet but as all the volleyball experts around you had said (basically only your family), “you’re a natural Y/N!”.

You could probably bump the volleyball all day long but you felt the urge to stop here and there to look over to your neighbours house to see if you would be able to finally put a face to the voice you heard earlier. 

You didn’t notice how much time had passed until you heard your dad yell from the inside of the house.

“Y/N, come inside and eat some snacks and drink some water. We don’t want our future superstar to get too hungry now, right?”

You laugh to yourself because of how silly your dad was because he truly believed that you would soon be a rising star in the volleyball world.

“I’m coming dad” you say gleefully.

As you bump the ball up one more time and catch it in your hands, you head to the front door of your house to take a break.

* * *

**Kuroo’s POV**

“Tetsu, I think we left one small box outside. Can you go grab it please? You can go take a break and sit outside on the porch to get some fresh air while you’re at it” asked your dad.

“Ok dad” he said.

As he stepped out of his new home he saw a small body disappear into the house next door. You did hear something earlier but was not entirely sure as to whether or not someone was doing some weird construction outside or if it was someone playing outside.

You quickly grab the last box and plop it down beside you on the porch.

As you sat down, you took one big breath and exhaled. Even though you were in Tokyo, you still lived in a fairly rural community which relatively made the air not as bad in comparison to being in the city centre. 

You were finally 8 this year, and you were excited to start a new school year. Even though you would be starting at a completely new elementary school you had high hopes that you’d be able to make at least a few friends and settle in nicely into your new life in Tokyo. 

You sat outside with your eyes closed and leaning back into the palms of your hands for quite some time, just enjoying the world moving around you basking in the subtle hum of the city. You heard the birds chirping, the wind whistling around you, the cars vibrating as they drove past your house, you heard--

“Hello there, good evening”.

You immediately snap out of your trance and open your eyes and leapt up onto your feet. Your eyes were met with two adults standing at the gate of your front lawn. Slightly confused at what was happening, you bow to the two adults and greeted them back. 

“I’ll go call my family, I'm sure i’m not supposed to be talking to strangers” you said.

The two adults chuckle and motion to you allowing you to quickly run inside and tell your grandparents and dad that there were people outside your house waiting for them.

Your family, thoroughly confused, walked out with you and to their surprise there were actually two adults waiting outside.

“Hello, good evening! We did not mean to interrupt you but we’re the family that lives right next door and we just thought that we would introduce ourselves” the two adults said, ah wait the couple said. 

“This is my wife Sato Aiko and i’m her husband Sato Cai”

“Oh, yes yes hello! Thank you so much for coming to visit us even though you were probably so busy, sorry for causing such a ruckus earlier” your dad replied introducing himself as he walked over to open the gate, motioning for the couple to come in. To everyone’s surprise as your dad opened the gate you saw a little girl holding the hands of the couple while slightly hiding behind them.

“Oh, there was a cute little young lady hiding behind this tall gate! Hello there, what’s your name?” your dad asks squatting down to her eye level.

“M-my-my name is Sato Y/N” she said bashfully as she grabbed onto her dad’s black trousers, now completely hidden behind him.

The couple laughs along with your dad, “she’s a little shy, she hasn’t really been around anyone her age yet” they said.

Your dad motions for you to come forward to greet the family, “This is my boy Kuroo Tetsurou, he’s 8 this year, how old are you little Sato?”. You bow to greet the family and smile at the little girl.

“I’m 6 years old” she says in a quiet voice.

Your whole family starts to smile so wide that you could probably see all of their pearly whites. The two families get acquainted on the lush green lawn in front of your house, laughing and smiling. 

As you went to help your grandparents sit down on the porch you overhear the adults saying how you’ll be going to the same elementary school as Y/N. 

You look over at the mention of Y/N's name and you see two little hazelnut brown eyes staring back at you. Eyes filled with curiosity and wonder, you feel a smile creep up on your face and you can’t help but think that your little neighbour was so similar to a little puppy. 

You wave at the little girl hiding behind her parents, you see her slightly panic but she gains the courage to wave back timidly. 

This small action caught the attention of the three adults speaking around her and as they stopped talking to look at who the little girl was waving at, they all paused and smiled.

“It looks like our little Sato has begun to warm up to her nii-san. I hope that they’ll be able to become friends, seeing as how they are neighbours and are going to the same school” your dad says lightly.

“Oh yes definitely! Feel free to bring Tetsurou over to our house, i’m sure our daughter would be overjoyed to have someone around her age to play with”

Their conversation comes to an end as the air blowing around them begins to get cold.

“Thank you for coming to meet us today! We need to finish unpacking but thank you once again! Bye Aiko-san and Cai-san, and goodnight little Sato” your dad smiles as he waves to the family.

As the family leaves your front lawn, the little girl turns around and waves goodbye to you. You give her a big smile and wave back. 

It was definitely a long day and you just couldn’t wait to go and sleep on your bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> This is honestly my first time writing a fanfic and hopefully it was worth the read! I know I have a lot to improve on, so if you have any feedback feel free to share it with me! I really don't know how this all works so any feedback is good feedback hehehe :)
> 
> I'm super excited to be writing this and I have a lot planned out for it so hopefully you all stay and read about the life of Sato Y/N! 
> 
> Also make sure to check the hyperlinks to look at the outfits of the Y/N!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	2. Marfic

[ Y/N'S OUTFIT ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UtbAQwrDE4Le4spWCIhEvevT9OTSTw1t/view?usp=sharing)

“Y/N it’s time to wake up honey, Kuroo is supposed to be coming over to play today” your mom says as she shakes you awake.

Your eyes open slowly but you quickly sit up as your mother’s words sink in.

“Kuroo nii-san?” you said half confused but also with shock, you haven’t really seen him aside from that day that you met him when they moved in.

“C’mon quickly now Y/N, let’s go get you ready and then you can bring Kuroo over to have breakfast with us.”

You jump out of bed following your mother’s footsteps with your little legs. Your mom gets you dressed in a black and white striped long sleeve along with a mustard yellow skirt. You always loved being dressed up by your mother and it was always fun being able to see your mom pair different clothing pieces together. You can tell that it truly made her happy.

You put on some black socks and slip into your white high top converse as soon as you were cleared to go. 

You step outside and start heading over to Kuroo’s house. Today was a nice clear day, with a vibrant blue sky and you can feel that the weather is finally starting to warm up.

The gate that once hid you was wide open, you step through the gates and make your way to the front door. You ring the doorbell and a few seconds later you hear someone running down the hall.

“H-hello, good morning” you said shyly as Kuroo’s dad opened the door.

“Good morning, Sato-chan! Are you here for Tetsu?”

You nod and say “my mom wants to have breakfast together with Kuroo nii-san.”

As soon as you finish speaking you see tall messy black hair appear to the side of Kuroo’s dad. 

“Good morning! Let’s go eat breakfast” Kuroo says appearing from behind his dad with a huge smile on his face. You see that he’s wearing a tomato red shirt along with some black shorts.

You nod and wait as Kuroo puts on his shoes. Kuroo waves to his dad as he tells him that he’ll go and play a bit with you after breakfast before heading back home.

“So, Sato-san, what's for breakfast today?” he says with a smile.

“I’m not too sure, my mom never told me. Oh by the way you can just call me Y/N, Kuroo nii-san” you say hesitantly, not totally sure if calling him by that was even right in this situation considering your basically non-existent contact with children your age.

You hear a little giggle come from beside you, “Ok Y/N! Wow I've never been called nii-san before, it makes me a little happy but proud hahaha.”

You break out a smile. As you both make your way back to your house, despite the short distance Kuroo makes sure to have you walk on the inside of the road in order to keep you safe from passing cars, already giving major big brother vibes. He smirks a little, proud of how cool he must seem to you.

You arrive at your front door and are greeted with the smell of freshly cooked rice and miso soup. You both take off your shoes and place them side by side, you try to grab the house slippers inside the closet for Kuroo obviously being too short to reach them. You tiptoe and wiggle your fingers and wave your arms as you attempt to grab them.

You see an arm above your head and grab the slippers, you turn around to see Kuroo trying to hold back his laughter with a smile. You slightly pout as you put on your own fluffy white slippers.

“Thank you for trying though Y/N” Kuroo says patting your head.

“Hello Kuroo-kun! Come and have a seat we’re just about ready to eat now” your dad says from the kitchen.

You lead Kuroo to the dining table where you hop into your chair. He sits down beside you and looks around only to ask if there was anything that he could help out with. Your parents reject his offer and suggest that he just sit down as they were basically done already.

“Kuroo nii-san” you say, turning to face him.

“Mhm?” 

“W-what would you like to play later after breakfast?”

He ponders for a while, finally asking you “I’m not too sure, what do you like to play with Y/N?”

Excitingly you hop off your chair and go to your room to grab your bestfriend, the volleyball. You bring it out to show Kuroo, to which you are met with a slightly confused expression.

“I like to play with this volleyball! I got it from my Uncle back in Miyagi! I recently learned a new skill, I can show you later!” you were basically rapping as you were so excited to tell someone about your favourite past time.

“Ok! Sure! I’m excited to see what our little Y/N has to show” he says between chuckles.

“Ok, ok enough about volleyball Y/N. Put the ball down and come sit back down, it’s time to eat” your mom says as she sits in her chair.

As soon as you finish eating breakfast, Kuroo begins to grab your dirty plates and helps to clean up the table, to which your parents were clearly happy with.

As your parents rained compliments about Kuroo’s manners you went to grab your volleyball and start heading towards the front door.

“Mom, i’m going to be outside playing volleyball with Kuroo nii-san.” 

“Ok Y/N, make sure you put some sunscreen on!”

“Aw but why it’s not even summer!” you pout as you grab the sunscreen bottle.

“Y/N.. you already know the answer to this.”

As soon as you finish squeezing out way too much sunscreen on your hands, Kuroo appears beside you. You look at him then look at the sunscreen in your hands. You motion to him to reach out his hand, to which he follows but with immense confusion. You giggle a bit and high five his hand with the sunscreen mountain.

“Y/N! Now that’s a cheap move” he says whining.

“My mom says it’s always important to put on sunscreen” you say while laughing. You begin to dot your face with sunscreen when you hear someone laughing beside you. You turn around to a puffed up Kuroo, trying very hard to keep in his laugh.

You pout and ask “what now”, wrinkling your forehead.

While squeezing your cheeks with his now sunscreen free hands he says, “you’re just so cute Y/N, especially with your little sunscreen dots on your face.”

You keep pouting while staring at him but as soon as he calmed down he reaches out to help rub the sunscreen into your cheeks.

You both finally finish putting sunscreen on and you are finally able to head out to play. You start thinking back to how nervous you were to meet Kuroo this morning and how quickly you were able to warm up to him, thoroughly fascinated considering your lack of social interactions. As you think about your once nervous self you begin to space out but you are quickly brought back to earth when you hear Kuroo calling out for you.

“Hello? Helllooooo? Y/N? Earth to Y/N'' he says while waving his hands in front of you. He finally leans down to look at you directly and tries calling out your name again.

“Huh? Oh uh sorry Kuroo nii-san!” slightly embarrassed you quickly run out to the front yard and start bumping the volleyball in your arms.

“Have you ever played volleyball Kuroo nii-san?”

“Not really, but that looks like fun! Can you teach me?”

“Of course! My dad says i’ll be a future volleyball star, so this future star will gladly teach you the ropes” you say proudly while playfully bowing to Kuroo.

Kuroo smirks and makes his way to you.

* * *

You and Kuroo continued to hang out and play volleyball, learning some new skills along the way from your mom. You can clearly tell that Kuroo was beginning to really take an interest in volleyball, and seeing your big brother (yes you think of him as a big brother because he is always insisting on acting like one) start to fall for the very sport that you loved made you very happy that you were able to be the one to introduce it to him.

I guess this was obvious because on the days that you two would hang out you would be outside for hours on end. This led to both of your parents having to limit your time outside and forced you both to do other activities because it was clear that if they had not done that you both would be playing outside with no care for the time or even the amount of UV rays that you both are soaking in. 

Reading on the couch became your new activity with Kuroo as it was “good to get a headstart on learning” quoting the words of your parents. Since you and Kuroo had different reading comprehension levels, Kuroo would often just read to you the books that he was reading for the day but something about sitting on a soft and comfy couch after playing volleyball for a few hours always made you a little too drowsy.

Listening to Kuroo’s voice and feeling the slight breeze from outside through the windows, you felt the fatigue wash over you as your eyes begin to close. Your head wobbles around as you begin falling asleep, eventually falling onto Kuroo’s shoulder.

Kuroo looks over to you to check if you have fallen asleep, this is no longer shocking as it has already happened countless times. He grabs his already prepared blanket beside him and drapes it over you, smiling because you just looked too cute while you were asleep (obviously, holding himself back from wanting to squeeze your cheeks).

You always wake up to a smirking Kuroo and the line that he never fails to always say, “you drooled a lot today too little Y/N”. Earnestly embarrassed and annoyed you (always) punch his arm and run off to your mom and complain about Kuroo, to which your mom simply laughs and pats your head.

The time you spent these past few weeks with Kuroo were very different to how you have been spending your days in the past but nonetheless you were having the time of your life. 

You have quickly become the favourite of Kuroo’s dad and grandparents, often asking you to come and give them hugs and to sit and talk to them whenever you came over to play with Kuroo. The same can be said for when Kuroo comes to your house, he’s basically become the big brother you’ve never had. 

Kuroo on the other hand has gotten more playful and scheming whenever the two of you are together, often playing pranks on you and constantly squeezing your cheeks constantly saying that “you’re just too cute and it’s basically impossible not to.”

* * *

Under the bright starry night sky, with a slight breeze blowing around the, you and Kuroo were sitting on the front porch talking about finally going to school tomorrow. 

“Y/N are you going to pretend that you don’t know me when we get to school?” he whines while pouting.

“I will if you embarrass me” your retort.

“But you do know that our parents have basically arranged for you and I to walk to and from school everyday? I mean wouldn’t it be nice to be known as the student with connections to such a good looking senpai? Wait, will you start calling me Kuroo-senpai now?” the bedhead haired boy says with unusual excitement.

You scoff “Who’s the good looking senpai? You, the guy with bedhead as his 25/8 hairstyle? Nii-san? You must be talking about someone else right?” Sarcasm was clearly not commonly used by children your age but because you spent way too much time with Kuroo you’ve begun to speak like him (much to your annoyance).

“Wow, very good joke Y/N” he says gritting his teeth while squeezing your cheeks.

“I learned from the best” you beamed.

“So are you going to start calling me Kuroo-senpai now? I mean I know how much you love calling me your nii-san but i’ll allow you to call me senpai if you want to switch it up sometimes” he says with a chuckle.

“If I really wanted to switch it up I would just start calling you random nicknames, better yet I should just start calling you Kuroo or even Tetsu-kun” you say with a smirk knowing full well that if you actually said those names people around you would think that you’re insane.

He pouts, visibly sad at the fact that he has acknowledged that fact that you probably won’t call him senpai at school.

“Oh hey but we are joining the volleyball club together right? You can’t possibly skip out on that one just because I’m there, it is volleyball after all. Oh also, I'm trying to convince my friend that I met at the park so you have to play nice ok?!”

“Of course, yes yes I will and you know volleyball is my one and only best friend.” you say nodding while trying to remember all the stories that Kuroo had told you about this friend of his in preparation for tomorrow. You probably would have met this “friend” of his already but your parents never let you go out past your front yard.

“Wait wait wait, what about me? Am I not your best friend?” 

You see him sulking as he turns to face you crossing his arms.

You laugh and say, “You’re Kuroo nii-san, you’re in a different category”.

“Oh-ho, I never thought I held such a special place in your heart Y/N” he says while smirking.

“Wow, I take that back. You can go now, bye” you say pretending to leave.

“Huuuuuh? Don’t leave it’s still too early and I'm still nervous to go to school tomorrow ” Kuroo whines as he holds on to your wrist.

As soon as you were about to reply your parents call you in to get ready for bed since you both have an early start tomorrow. Kuroo was sleeping over today because your parents wanted to thank him with a nice warm breakfast since he’ll be taking care of you from now on for school.

You both head up to your room while talking about school and the high possibility of you getting lost in the building. As you both enter your room, Kuroo looks over to your bed to check how many blankets you had, knowing how you would easily get cold. He quickly runs back downstairs and grabs the blanket that he had always put over you off the couch and as he returned to the room he tosses you the blanket. 

“Thank you, you know me so well nii-san” you flash a bright smile to him.

He pats your head and tells you to quickly go to sleep as he enters his futon.

The morning rolls around and you’re both awakened by the bright sun seeping in through your windows. You groan and throw a pillow at Kuroo who was clearly still sleeping soundly to wake him up.

“Ugh, that’s not a nice way to wake a person up Y/N” he mumbles and sighs as he remembers he had to go to school today.

Your parents insist on taking a picture of you both on your first day of school since it was a pretty monumental moment after all (at least for you). You both flash toothy grins for the photo then head to Kuroo’s house to say goodbye to his family.

You both reach the front gates of your school, you look around to see all the children streaming in through the gates. You quickly take note of a boy looking down and walking quietly by himself. You wave bye to Kuroo, reminding him to meet you at the gym for volleyball later. You notice that as soon as you both parted ways he quickly ran up to that quiet boy from earlier, latching his arm around his shoulders. Ah, that must be the boy that he kept talking about.

You head off to your classroom in excitement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! 
> 
> Thank you for reading chapter 2! I hope you liked it! If anyone was curious the name of the chapter is a name of a star that is part of the Ophiuchus constellation that appears above the Tokyo sky in April (since a new school year starts in April). 
> 
> If you have any feedback please do share it with me (if you even want to be a beta reader, i'll gladly accept hehehe). I hope you keep joining Sato Y/N on her journey!


	3. Pollux

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pollux: An orange-red star and also the brightest in the Gemini constellation

[ Y/N'S OUTFIT ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bKYhSfXu3IXacuOU6SS_zdmu341BbQEr/view?usp=sharing)

“Ugh, I wish I could just play volleyball all day instead of having to sit in class. Learning is so boring” you say as you try to receive the spikes flying from the other side of the court.

“Wow Y/N, spoken like a true genius” the bedhead boy says.

“Kuroo, stop teasing her already and focus on your spikes” the boy with cat-like eyes said as he sets to Kuroo.

Kuroo spikes it down but before it could touch the floor the ball bounces up from your forearms first. You run to catch the ball and you begin to gather the other balls scattered on your side of the court.

“Kenma-senpai is officially my new best friend, he’s always defending me against your mean attacks Kuroo-san” you teasingly say as you pass off the balls to Kenma and give Kenma a high five. 

“WHAT NO WAY!!! I WAS FRIENDS WITH KENMA FIRST!! STOP STEALING MY FRIENDS Y/N-CHAN!!” Kuroo says with a pout.

“I mean isn’t it obvious that Kenma-senpai would choose this amazing kouhai of his? Also, I _wonder_ why I find it so hard to make friends in my own class” you smirk as you roll your eyes at Kuroo and turn to look at Kenma shaking his head.

“Oh no, no way I’m not getting in between this, every time we have this argument it never ends well for me so no thank you” he retorts as he sets to another player.

It’s been a few months since the three of you officially met, and let’s just say that the dynamic has been like this from day one. When Kuroo introduced you to his friend Kenma your small friend group of two quickly expanded to three. It was awkward at first because you still didn’t have much experience with making friends but you got over it quickly because of Kuroo.

This little friend group of yours literally did everything together, from eating lunch to hanging out during breaks and obviously the volleyball team and because of this it also wasn’t a surprise when everyone in your class started to gather to ask you about them. However, knowing how quickly Kuroo became famous in your school, it was a surprise that the questions hadn’t come sooner. These questions didn’t really bother you much but it was really hard to make friends because they would always ask about Kuroo rather than trying to get to actually befriend you.

Speaking of school, not to brag but you have been doing well. Your parents let you play with your two friends to your heart's content only on the condition that you don’t fall behind on your studies and to do well in school, so naturally you excelled in order to keep playing.

Joining the volleyball club used to just be a thing between Kuroo and you but after much convincing Kenma finally joined and not going to lie but he was pretty good at what he was doing. 

You would often practice with the boys team after practicing with the girls team because you wanted to quickly improve your receives. This was because after much deliberation and countless calls between you and your family back in Miyagi it was decided that you would aim to be a libero. You never really understood why you should be a libero but you gladly complied because you trusted your family.

It would be a lie to say that you didn’t want to be out there spiking balls and look cool (as much as it pains you to say this but yes Kuroo looks cool while spiking balls) like Kuroo but you put your unconditional trust in the choices that your family made. If anything you were still young and growing so maybe if being a libero wasn’t for you it’s best to know and change early on.

* * *

“The weather seems to have cleared up from yesterday” you think to yourself as you stare out the window during math class. It was grey and gloomy all day yesterday so you didn’t get to eat lunch with Kuroo and Kenma up on the rooftop as you usually did. Unlike yesterday, the sky had a nice light blue sheen and was occupied by fluffy white clouds, the sun hidden behind the clouds so you could feel a slight brisk breeze through the windows of your class. Despite already wearing a brown cotton cardigan, you could definitely still feel the cool breeze.

**_ding ding dong_ **

“Ah, it’s finally lunch time” you sigh as you go to grab your bento from your bag.

**_BANG_ **

You heard a bunch of feet shuffling followed by a bunch of “Kuroo-senpai’s” and girly giggles. You roll your eyes as you get up from your seat and head towards the opposite door away from the swarm of girls to meet up with Kenma knowing that he’d probably be waiting for you at the opposite door from Kuroo.

“Hello hello Kenma-senpai” you smile at the boy playing some game on his phone.

“Hi, Y/N. You do know you don’t have to call me that, I'm not like Kuroo who obsesses over being called that” he says as you two begin walking towards the stairs to the rooftop.

“Hey I heard that and hello to you too Y/N-chan but hey I always come to your class to eat lunch with you but you never use the door where I am” Kuroo says as he drapes his red sweater over you knowing you’d be cold as soon as you went up to the rooftop.

“Mhm, I wonder why Tetsu-san” you smile at the rooster haired boy as a means of thanking him for his sweater.

“You sure are creative, I swear you have like thousands of nicknames for me. I know you love and appreciate me Y/N-chan” he says with his signature smirk.

You ignore his remarks and turn to look at the game Kenma was playing.

“Koz! What are you playing this time? Is it the same one from before?” you say vibrantly as you glance over his shoulder.

“Wow, don’t ignore me you two i’m hurt” Kuroo says with a pout.

You three finally arrive at the rooftop and you were very thankful that Kuroo gave you his sweater because it was very cold (at least for you it was).

As you all sit down laying out all your bento’s to share. You listen to the meaningless banter between the two as you attempt to roll up the sleeves of Kuroo’s sweater so that it doesn’t fall back down your arms and get dirty. Kuroo shakes his head and comes to your aid to roll up the sleeves making the sleeves the perfect length to cover your arms but not drag over the food.

“Oh, little Y/N what are you going to do without your amazing nii-san?”

“Wow, I'm so thankful Kuroo nii-san” you sarcastically respond. Even though you’d really hate to admit it, Kuroo took good care of you at school and you were very grateful but to prevent his ego from blowing up more than it already has, you choose to refrain from saying it out loud.

“Kenma, eat first and play later” Kuroo says as he takes away his device from his hands to replace it with chopsticks. He really does feel like he’s taking care of his children when he’s around you two but it was always fun hanging around you two.

“Thank you for the food” you all say eagerly pouncing on the food.

Eating lunch with your two friends made you happy, it was nice to just partake in meaningless conversation about anything and everything. Being able to sit there on the rooftop, feeling the breeze and seeing the bright blue sky above you made you feel whole and warm.

“Oh yea, Y/N! Kenma and I are going to the park near our house over the weekend and I’m probably going to sleep over. Do you want to join us?”

“Ah, mhm I really want to see this park. I think I have to ask my parents first. I’ll try to give you an answer tomorrow” you reply with a smile knowing that you actually might not be able to give him an answer considering how things are at home.

Kuroo furrows his brows at your unusual answer but he decides to not ask further and instead he just nods while stuffing more food in his mouth.

It was a month until summer break and since you three have just joined the volleyball team you weren’t chosen to play at any tournaments so your family would probably be taking this chance to go back home to Miyagi to visit your family there. However, for the first time you were unsure if this would actually be happening this summer break. Not going to lie, you know how much your family loved to go visit Miyagi and they knew how much you loved it but with how things are recently you don’t know.

You weren’t sure as to what was happening but you were sure that your house felt a little colder these days. Despite the changing seasons and wavering temperatures, your house felt cold.

* * *

Saturday finally rolled around, the sky was a nice shade of blue with fluffy white clouds. You step out of the house and quickly turn to yell back into the house that you’re off to Kenma’s house with Kuroo for the weekend. An unusual silence fills the air, you sigh and with a frown you put on your shoes and head over to Kuroo’s house.

The weather was just right today, not too cold and not too hot. You had on a simple burgundy cardigan on, along with black jeans and your signature black converse. You had your backpack filled with your clothes for the sleepover and your volleyball in hand. As you arrive at Kuroo’s door you let out a big sigh and force a smile as you ring the doorbell.

Kuroo opens the door with a smile that quickly fades away once he looked at you. He saw that you had forced a smile on your face and quickly decided to not question it, careful to not worsen your mood anymore. 

He had noticed that you were zoning out more frequently this week, often taking more volleyballs to the face than usual. He knew something was wrong but he didn’t want to make any assumptions that may hurt you even more.

“Hey, Little Y/N you ready to go?” he quickly flashed a smile and told his grandparents that he’ll be leaving now.

As you both made your way to the infamous park to meet up with Kenma, Kuroo took his usual spot beside you blocking you from the so-called “dangers of the road”. Despite only having met at the beginning of the year Kuroo has definitely grown to become a dependable friend for you, you considered talking to him but decided otherwise because maybe you were just overthinking it. 

Maybe it’ll all go back to the way it was before. 

Maybe this was just a passing issue.

Your walk to the park was filled with conversations about volleyball and how you’ve significantly improved your receives in comparison to when you first learned. You give a rare compliment to Kuroo about how his spikes have been gaining more power along with his blocks that are quickly improving. Even though you were always talking sarcastically with Kuroo, you couldn’t deny one’s volleyball skills. You had immense respect for people with talent along with those who pushed and worked hard to improve their skills. Even though you were only just 6 years old, growing up in a household and family that was so into volleyball you learned to respect amazing athletes despite who they are.

As you arrived at the park, you were amazed and needless to say you were in shock because how could you have missed out on such an amazing play area? There was a net set up in the middle of the sandbox, a set of swings along with a seesaw and a slide, there was even a hill that would have been perfect for looking at the night sky and the stars that shine with it.

“Wow, had I known this area existed I would have come to visit this place with you earlier!! How could you not tell me about the volleyball net here Kuroo nii-san??” you said with a sense of betrayal.

“I mean I did ask you to tag along so many times but you were never allowed Y/N-chan” Kuroo replies.

“Ok, ok fine you make a good point. I accept your apology” you respond with a smirk. 

You spot Kenma sitting at one of the swings staring down at his phone playing a game. You call out to Kenma and are met with his golden eyes, you quickly run over to him and grab his arm to bring him over to the volleyball net where Kuroo was already at.

“Kenma, can you toss for us” you ask, trying to show the best puppy dog eyes for him.

“Y/N, you really know I don’t want to but I can’t refuse if you ask me like that” he says as he goes to grab the volleyball from your hands.

“Thank you so so so so so much Koz! You’re the best, I promise that i’ll allow you to play your favourite game later!” you reply with clear excitement.

“I never get to spike or block as much at school because the coach knows that I'm trying to improve my receives to become a libero so I want to try some spikes and even block Kuroo nii-san today!”

“I don’t know about blocking me because you already know how amazing I am but bring it on Y/N-chan! I’ll be receiving all your spikes today!” he retorts clearly filled with the burning urge to pick up all the spikes you make today.

“Did you guys already forget about me or something? I really don’t want to be standing here for that long” Kenma butts in.

“Hehehe, of course! We’ll promise not to tire you out too much!”

Kenma already knows that this promise will clearly not be fulfilled, seeing as to how excited both you and Kuroo are right now.

The three of you start playing as you throw the ball to Kenma to set, you run up to the ball and spike it down right by Kuroo’s face. As you land back down on your feet and see sand flying up upon the impact of your spike you break out into a proud smile. You whistle with a smirk on your face, obviously ecstatic about the fact that you got a spike in. Kuroo smirks as he notices that you clearly haven’t been working on just receiving this entire time at school. 

As time goes by and surprisingly more spikes pass through, you head over to Kuroo in an attempt to help him improve his receives (but also giving Kenma a break as he’s basically bended over heaving for air). You practice receiving with Kuroo for a while and he eventually starts to improve. You look over to see what state Kenma is in and you glance over at Kuroo, you both take a mental note to keep going on your own for now. To kill more time and to let Kenma rest, Kuroo starts to teach you his know-hows on blocking even though his skill level on blocking is probably on par with your skills.

You three play a bit more before heading over to the swing set to rest and chat. The sun was finally setting, the sky turning into a beautiful mixture of yellow and orange. The cool breeze blowing, cooling you down from all the sweat you all accumulate from all the volleyball you have been playing.

“Wow, Y/N are you sure you want to be a libero? I mean for a tiny child like you those spikes were amazing” Kuroo says as he passes you a bottle of water. 

“I mean, I obviously don’t only practice receiving at school. That’d be way too boring and it’s a little sad not being able to fly like everyone else, even though my family told me to practice my receives it doesn’t hurt to practice everything else right. This genius aims to be an all around volleyball player and also i’m not that tiny, thank you very much” you smile and flip your hair playfully.

“It’s amazing how so much passion for a sport can be in that tiny body of yours little Y/N” Kuroo responds as he ruffles your hair in the process.

“Oh right, Kenma I need to pass by the convenience store on the way home. Take Y/N home with you first, make sure you keep her safe ok?”

Slightly confused but curious as to what he could possibly need from there, Kenma nods as Kuroo begins to list off all the things Kenma needed to do to keep you safe. He really is making it seem as though you’re travelling to some neighbouring town. 

You begin to laugh because for one thing, Kuroo was being so overprotective but also at the fact that you really thought you were quite an independent person already but it was all an illusion built by Kuroo’s attentiveness to you. Kuroo picks up his stuff and starts heading to the convenience store.

“Ok, before it gets any darker we should head back. I’m pretty sure it’ll be right in time for dinner when we get back. Y/N are you cold? Do you need my sweater?” Kenma asks.

“No it’s ok I brought an extra one here in my backpack, thank you for your consideration Koz” you say with a smile. As soon as you take out your grey crewneck and zip up your backpack, Kenma reaches over and grabs your back. He slings it over his shoulders and starts making his way out of the park. You follow him after putting the crewneck on, making sure to thank him for carrying your backpack for you.

“I wonder what Kuroo needs from the store? Could it be that he’s buying candy? Or maybe some ice cream? Wait, no way if he does that on his own that’d be unfair I want candy and ice cream too”

“Y/N, i’m pretty sure even if that was what Kuroo was actually buying he’d already be bringing along your favourite candy and ice cream since he knows you so well”

“Yea, it’s sometimes creepy but fascinating how he knows me so well like we haven’t even known each other for that long. Am I just that easy to read Koz?” you say with a slight pout.

“Do you really want me to answer that Y/N” he replies with a chuckle.

“I mean being easy to read isn’t that bad, but also I don’t totally agree that you are easy to read. You show your emotions a lot on your face but it’s really hard to know what’s going on in that mind of yours. So I guess you’re both easy to read but not really”

That slightly soothes your worries because you really didn’t want Kenma or Kuroo knowing and possibly worrying about what has been happening at home.

“Mhm, ok I agree I think I do show my emotions easily and I'm probably a slight overthinker” you respond.

“Mhm, only slightly? But hey, it’s not a bad thing to show your emotions Y/N, I think it makes being around you that much easier. Since you know, I am shy and find it hard to get along with others but being able to see how your feeling eases my concerns a bit. Though it may not always mean that we can know everything because you can always be smiling but your mind can be off thinking about who knows what”

Ah, you understand. He’s entirely explained your situation right now.

You both arrive at Kenma’s house and you are quickly met with the smell of fish, wondering what was being cooked for dinner you stick out your nose to sniff and attempt to decipher the smell, earning a small laugh from Kenma.

A few minutes after you settle into Kenma’s house and greet his parents, Kuroo enters with a white plastic bag in hand.

“What’d you buy Kuroo nii-san” mentally taking note that his parents can probably hear you so you couldn’t call him any odd nicknames now.

After he greets Kenma’s parents he replies “mhm, it’s a surprise for later Y/N-chan”. He smirks and pats your head.

After the amazing soba you had for dinner you help the two boys wash the dishes. You see Kuroo asking Kenma’s mom for something but you decide to focus on drying the dishes that were passed to you. As soon as you finish, Kuroo grabs you and Kenma outside to the front yard with the plastic bag in hand. He reaches into the bag and brings out a pack of sparklers and with a huge grin he says “SURPRISE!”

“WOAH NO WAY YOU BOUGHT SPARKLERS? I NEVER TRIED BEFORE! OH MY GOODNESS THIS IS AMAZING” you manage to spit out as you are overwhelmed with excitement.

He starts passing out the sparklers to you and Kenma, he then goes to grab the candle that Kenma’s mom had prepared for you all and he begins to light his sparkler. It was now nighttime and the freshly lit sparkler shined bright, flashing a bright golden orange light in all directions. You were in awe of how beautiful it was and you hurriedly walked over to light your sparkler.

Kuroo reaches over to grab your sparkler so he could light it for you, he passes it back and you just stand there and appreciate the lights coming off of the sparklers that the three of you held. It felt like you were looking at the blinking stars in the night sky.

This made you happy. Being able to be in this moment with your two best friends made you really really really happy. 

Kuroo breaks you out of your thoughts, he leans down and whispers something in your ear.

“I know you are thinking about something these days and it clearly has you worried and sad, this may not be much but I hope it made you happy enough”. He truly wanted to cheer you up because he just wanted you to be able to truly smile with not troubling thoughts running through your head.

You look into his hazel eyes and smile a genuine smile, “yes, i’m very happy right now”.

“Then my surprise has been successful” he responds as he ruffles your hair.

“You do know that I care right? I’m not just a nii-san by name, I truly see you as my little sister. You can talk to me ok?”

“Yes yes nii-san, thank you”.

Maybe it would be fine to talk to Kuroo, but maybe it just isn’t time yet. You were secretly hoping that everything would resolve itself and that you can just go back to how everything was so you wouldn’t need to needlessly worry Kuroo, even though you know he’d still worry about you without even telling him anything.

Maybe not yet. I trust my family. I trust their choices.

Maybe not just yet.

This is fine for now, you were happy in this moment with Kuroo and Kenma. You were happy to be able to have the stars in your reach and in your hands right now. 

You smile while looking at the sparkler in your hands, yes that’s right this is fine. I am happy right now and that’s enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello again!
> 
> I honestly got a bit of writers block when I started writing this chapter and so that's probably why it took so long to release it but also school was super busy last week but it's a longer chapter so that makes up for the lack of updates right? :)
> 
> I hope you all have been liking the story so far! I've been trying to really set up the dynamics between the characters and Y/N so i'm sorry if it feels as though it's dragging. Since this story is still at its beginning stages, i'm taking the time to build up Y/N's character and I want to be able to properly convey how she interacts with each of the characters. A lot of what happens now will have a huge impact on her in the future so hopefully you all stick around until then!
> 
> Hopefully, reading this has been as enjoyable for you as it has been for me to write it! Have a good rest of the week!


	4. Epsilon Indi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epsilon Indi: A brown dwarf star found in the constellation Indus

[ Y/N'S OUTFIT ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PWQ0S3OXKoDsupbbAmi1M0zEZYRYj6kB/view?usp=sharing)

The ride to Miyagi was quiet. Your family had decided to take you there for your summer break but unlike the past times that you have gone, this time it clearly felt different.

As you looked out into the passing scenery, the silence that filled the air was suffocating. You sigh and convince yourself to just sleep it off.

The weeks leading up to the start of summer break was needless to say, a blur. After you went home from hanging out with Kuroo and Kenma that weekend, your hopes were quickly shattered. You walked in to your dad sleeping on the sofa and your mom nowhere in sight. It was nighttime by the time you went back home with Kuroo and this was clearly not what you had hoped to come back to.

Your parents have been arguing and you have frequently been eating dinner either alone or with only one parent. You don’t even remember when the last time your family was in one place at the same time.

Your parents have argued before but it was never to this extent. They would quickly make up and say their sorry’s to each other and then they would go back to being the loving couple that they were but this was different. There were so many fake smiles and lonely nights

You thought that love was something that lasted forever, you had thought that once you were able to be with the person you loved the happiness that you felt with that person would last forever. You thought that it was something unbreakable and everlasting at least that was what you saw and experienced until now, your parents had loved each other and they were so happy. 

So what happened?

It was just an endless cycle of arguments and short lived reconciliation. 

It broke your heart. You idolize your parents and the relationship they had. They were the very foundation that you proudly stood on but now it felt like the ground beneath your feet was slowly crumbling away. You didn’t want to accept what was happening because you saw the love in their eyes all these years, it wouldn’t just disappear that easily right? 

You chose to believe in what you saw and you chose to believe that your parents would make it over this so that you could finally be in both of their arms happy again.

This trip to Miyagi took a lot of effort on your part. A lot of begging and intentional sighing around your parents were done, it was your own desperate effort to put your parents in one place again. You had hoped that by going back home to Miyagi they’d be reminded of their happy days, the days that were filled with warmth and love.

After what felt like forever, you finally arrive at your grandpa’s house, you unbuckle your seatbelt and open the door. You stand there for a bit, breathing in the air of Miyagi as you earnestly admire your surroundings. You had truly missed this, but now it was simply enough that you were here.

“Where’s my future star libero?” you hear your grandpa booming with his stern but loving voice.

You quickly snap out of your trance and run towards the voice that you missed so much. You flash a bright smile and jump into his arms, giggling with joy.

“GRANDPA!! I missed you so much! I have so much to tell you!” you excitedly squeal as you launched yourself into his arms.

“Mhm, i’m sure you do. I’m happy you’re back here.” he smiles and pats your head, squeezing you hard in his embrace.

You see your uncle Ukai come out of the house to help your parents with the baggage. You quickly jump out of your grandpa’s arms to go and greet your favourite uncle. As soon as he sees you running towards him, he opens his arms ready to lift you off of your feet. You melt into your uncle’s embrace and giggle, greeting him and telling him about how much you’ve missed him.

Your parents see how happy you are to be back and it sparked a hope in them, a hope that this vacation will repair what was lost rather than make more damage. They didn’t want to be the reason that that smile on your face disappears but they knew that they might very well be on the path towards that.

After settling in it was finally time for dinner. As you caught up with your grandpa and uncle giving them updates on your life at school, your progress with volleyball and even updates on your new friends, you kept a constant eye on your parents. Your parents were actually talking for once and this made you hold high hopes that your plan for reconciliation would succeed. 

* * *

You spent your days at home with your family, playing volleyball in the backyard with whoever was at home. You liked to practice with your grandpa Ukai the most because he liked to teach you the basics and strengthen your foundation on volleyball. Seeing as how he was a coach for the local volleyball team Lil’Tykes you could understand why he was able to teach you so well. 

Your grandpa taught you about the different tempos despite him knowing that you were working towards becoming a libero. He believed that to be the best you needed to be able to have a good foundation to grow off of. Practicing with your grandpa, you felt that you were really improving and quickly at that. You were excited to show your two best friends back in Tokyo your new and improved skills. Though you doubt that they would be sitting still doing nothing this summer. Actually on second thought, maybe that statement doesn’t completely apply to Kenma. You chuckle at the thought of Kuroo going to Kenma’s house to drag him out to practice.

The days passed with little to no arguments between your parents and you thoroughly thought that your family had finally gone back to the way it was. But maybe it was just a facade considering your mom would always be out meeting and catching up with her childhood friends or your dad would be holed up in the room doing work. So with all the time apart, there wasn’t even much time for them to actually argue. 

However, on one scorching sunny day, for once all three of you were in the living room all at once, your grandpa and uncle too preoccupied with their jobs to be at home all the time. You were busy trying to start a conversation between your parents but all your efforts were quickly defused by simple and short answers. 

You saw that it was time to start preparing for lunch and you managed to get your dad and mom to prepare lunch together. “This was your best plan yet” you thought as you sat in the living room watching some cartoons.

Silence had filled the air for some time and all you could hear was the sounds of the knife on the wooden chopping board, the hushed conversation between your parents and the cartoon that you were watching on tv. It was soothing, this was something you missed, the calm and the warmth that came from doing mundane activities with your family.

**CLANG**

You hear the once hushed voices start escalating, filled with anger and annoyance. Your parents were fighting again, in shock you began to blame yourself. Had you not convinced them to go make lunch together you would have been able to avoid inciting your parent’s arguments. 

The voices kept escalating, your parents have gotten louder and louder as they spoke soon wiping out the noise from the tv. All you could hear was their voices, your parents clearly forgetting that they are still in the same room as you.

Tears began to well up in your eyes, this was your fault, you’re the reason why they started arguing again. Had you been smarter this would have never happened. You never saw them fight first hand and seeing them like this broke you more. Not once have you heard your parents speak like this around you and it was like you were hit by a truck. You never would have thought that those warm and loving voices would one day speak such harsh and hateful words. Your world was cracking and you felt as if the sky was falling in on you.

You stood up from your spot, tears falling down your face frozen with shock as you watched your parents argue right in front of you.

Your parents have completely forgotten about surroundings and didn’t notice you crying in the living room, clearly blind to what was happening around them. “You couldn’t keep watching them” you thought, if you stayed there any longer you would have really given up all hope but you weren’t ready to. You thought that if you stood there any longer your world would come crashing down. In a panic you look around to grab something, anything, your volleyball was the closest to you so you took it and ran out to the backyard trying to be as far as possible from your parent’s resentful voices. You sat in front of the volleyball net in the backyard for a while, hand covering your ears and tears falling down and soaking your linen shorts.

You could still hear your parents from where you sat and with staggered breaths you got up from your spot and ran. You didn’t know the neighbourhood well and you had always gone with someone whenever you went out but it didn’t matter. All that mattered right now was that you needed to get away from that house, you needed to be as far away from your parents as possible.

You just kept running and running with your volleyball in hand as your tears constantly fall down staining your flushed cheeks. The hot breeze blowing by combined with your rising body heat caused you to finally slow down and catch your breath. You finally stopped to look at your surroundings. You saw a park bench at what looked like a children’s park.

But you had no idea where you were.

You don’t even remember the route that you took. Your legs felt weak from running and you fell to your knees in front of the park bench. You cried even louder because now you were lost and broken. There was no one around and you felt so alone. You hugged your volleyball closer to you and cradled it in between your body and your knees. Your tears now falling down onto your yellow and blue ball.

* * *

Your tears never ceased, your situation not helping in any way but after a while you felt a tap on your shoulders.

You shyly raise your head from your cradled body and to see the people who had gotten your attention. Your eyes stung from crying for so long and the bright sunlight that shone through the cloudless blue sky made it harder to clearly see the two figures in front of you.

Once your eyes were finally able to get used to the brightness of the sun, you see two pairs of eyes looking back at you. One boy had olive green eyes while the other had brown eyes. You wipe the tears from your eyes and on your cheek, you blink quietly back at the two boys.

The spiky haired boy chose to speak up first.

“Hey, are you ok? Did you get hurt? Why are you sitting here on the ground crying?” he asked with concern that was interlaced in his voice.

You chose to not respond, extremely intimidated by the two boys towering over you. You bring your knees closer showing a clear discomfort with the situation.

The boy with floppy hair swept to the side notices your discomfort and takes a seat next to you on the ground beside you to avoid scaring you any more but also to speak to you at your eye level.

“Iwa-chan you’re scaring her!” he quickly grabs the spiky haired boy down to crouch like him.

“Hey, I see that you have a volleyball in your arms! Do you play volleyball?” the brown-eyed boy asks in an attempt to calm you down and break the ice.

After a short silence you nod.

The two boys smile, happy that they are making some progress.

“We play volleyball too! My name Is Oikawa Tooru and this is Iwaizumi Hajime! I’m a setter and he’s an outside hitter and future ace! What role do you play on your team?”

“I’m working to become a libero” you say in a quiet voice

“WOW that’s amazing! You must be really good seeing the state of your volleyball.” Oikawa responds teasingly while pointing to the ball in your arms.

You show a small smile to the two boys, “Uh, um my name is Sato Y/N, i’m 6 years old”. You manage to finally introduce yourself to return the kindness that the two boys have shown you so far.

“That’s a really pretty name Y/N! We both just turned 9 years old this year! You can call us in any way that you want right Iwa-chan?”

Iwaizumi sighs at the nickname but nods in approval, careful not to scare you off anymore. With a calm voice he finally asks if it is ok to sit on the ground beside you. Though you were reluctant to agree you allowed him to sit beside you. 

You finally bring your knees down to sit properly after finally feeling comfortable enough to do so around the two boys.

“So, Sato-san is it ok to ask you why you were crying earlier?” Iwaizumi manages to finally ask, leaning forward to see your face.

You take a deep but shaky breath as you are suddenly reminded of the situation. 

“I ran out of my house and I got lost, I don’t remember how to get back home” you respond slowly making sure to omit the fact that your parents were fighting (and are probably still fighting you thought).

The two boys glanced at each other and nodded slowly, understanding the situation.

“Ok, well I’m sure that your parents are already out looking for you right now. So Iwa-chan and I can stay here and wait with you until your parents come to pick you up ok?”

You doubt that your parents would have actually noticed your absence already considering how they basically forgot you existed as they fought earlier. However, you nodded in agreement and chose to place hope on what Oikawa said.

To kill some time and to take your mind off of the issue at hand, the two boys suggested that the three of you play with the volleyball in your hands. You quickly agreed.

To get a feel of each other’s skill levels, you three agreed to bumping the ball around first. The two boys were fascinated at how proficient you were at getting the ball right where it needed to be. They rained down compliments on you because for a 6 year old child this was seemingly amazing since they didn’t know of your deep rooted connections to the sport.

You went to take a break for a bit and you watched Iwaizumi toss the ball up to Oikawa. Oikawa perfectly sets the ball for Iwaizumi and in a flash you saw the ball bounce back up from the ground. You were amazed at Oikawa’s setting skills, it gave off a different feel from Kenma’s and Iwaizumi’s spike was out of this world (literally and figuratively). The power that he was able to put into that spike was simply fascinating and he immediately took the #1 spot for best spikes, pushing Kuroo out.

You just sat there in awe with your mouth wide open. You hear a bright laugh that snaps you out of your admiration.

“Oikawa-san, Iwaizumi-san, th-tha-that uhh y-you’re amazing” you manage to churn out.

The two boys are now laughing at your compliment and awe, they make their way to you to ruffle hair. 

“Sato-san don’t compliment Oikawa like that or else his ego will blow up”

You hear a gasp that is followed by “Iwa-chan!!! Don’t say that to her, I want to keep hearing her compliments!!”

You start to laugh at their interaction because it honestly reminded you of your own conversations with Kuroo. The brown-haired boys look back at you, ecstatic that they are able to make you laugh. 

“Ok, let us see more of your libero skills Y/N-chan!” Oikawa says.

You get up from your seat and get into position. The two boys take turns spiking to you but as if you had been playing with them for years, you were able to perfectly receive all of their spikes.

After countless spikes Oikawa speaks up and says “Y/N-chan, are you sure you’re only 6 years old?? How can you be this good?”

With a giggle you say “My family has been teaching me volleyball for who knows how long so I have been playing ever since! Also, I’m turning 7 next week so I guess I’m pretty good for a 7 year old”

“Wow, Sato-san not bad.” The spiky hair boy says with a smirk.

“Y/N-chan, I know we just met but you have to hang out with us more! Wait, hold on what elementary school do you go to? Actually better question, it’s your birthday next week?? Invite us to your birthday party!” Oikawa says excitedly.

“Oi, Trashykawa we literally just met. It's rude to suddenly ask to get invited to their birthday party.” Iwaizumi retorts.

“Aw but Iwa-chan I﹣” Oikawa sentence was cut off by two adults rushing past the two boys towards you.

“Y/N! Where have you been? Are you ok? We have been worried sick! Your dad and I have been looking for you everywhere! When we turned around to look for you in the living room you weren’t there anymore! Honey, why did you leave like that without even telling us? You don’t even know the area well and you’re still so young!” your mom nagged on.

Slightly baffled at the fact that your parents are practically acting as if they didn’t just fight in front of you, you open your mouth to reply but quickly remember that you were still in the middle of a conversation with the two boys who are now staring at you in bewilderment. 

“Mom, dad. I’m fine, Oikawa-san and Iwaizumi-san have been taking care of me while waiting for you two” deciding to address the issue of why you ran away later. “We should go home, let’s talk at home.” you suggest to your parents.

After a bunch of never ending “thank you’s”, you and your parents start walking back to your house. Before getting too far you turn around and say “Thank you for today! Let’s play again tomorrow! I’ll wait for you here!” you wave to the two boys with a bright smile on your face.

Little did you know that that (slightly embarrassing) encounter with those two boys would be the start of your blooming friendship.

* * *

After what felt like forever, you and your family finally got home. Even though you were exhausted from all that happened today you forced yourself to stay awake to finally talk to your parents. No one was home so you quickly grabbed your mom and dad’s arms and pulled them to sit down in the living room.

“Y/N honey, what’s wrong? Why did you want us to sit here?” your dad asks. The two look at you with confusion smeared all over both of their faces.

With a deep breath you begin to speak, “I-I-i’m sorry, i’m sorry that I wanted you to make lunch together today because of me you two fought, b-be-because of me…” your voice started to crack as tears fell from your eyes.

In shock, your parents tried to reply with something, anything at this rate. They had completely forgotten that you were there to experience the fight they just had. They had thought that they were hiding it so well because they didn’t want to hurt you but in the end that’s exactly what they did. All those times that they fought at home before you had gotten home from school, they thought that you would have never noticed it. Despair and shame filled their eyes as they approached your shaking body.

“I’m so sorry honey, this was never your fault. It has never been your fault. I’m just so so sorry” your dad manages to say, fighting the tears welling up in his eyes.

For a while, you three just sat there hugging and crying in silence. Your mom just couldn’t find the right words to say. She felt so sorry and ashamed that she put her dear child through such a thing. It all finally made sense, the constant begging to go to Miyagi and the constant changes in your mood at home, it was clear that you knew all this time and you were hurting all on your own. Your mom wasn’t even aware of how long it had been eating away at her child and the very fact that her child thought that she was the reason for all this broke her heart.

Vowing to never put their child through this pain ever again, your parents agreed to make this work to the best of their abilities. That for their child, they would try harder to repair what was lost.

After quite some time, your crying had stopped and your body was fully drained of energy. You fell asleep in your parents arms.

The next day, you woke up in your bed with your parents arms draped over you. Afraid of what might happen again you tried to escape from their arms but you were met with warm hands that patted your head and your shoulder. “Everything is going to be ok” you hear your mom whisper to you. You smile and nuzzle into her arms.

* * *

Your parents’ relationship have improved since that day but that wasn’t the only relationship that was improving. You have been going out to play with Oikawa and Iwaizumi every day since you met them. 

You did all kinds of activities with the two boys, they took good care of you in a different way from Kuroo. They were a bit clumsy and often didn’t know if what they were doing to take care of you was right but most importantly they treated you as an equal as if you three were all the same age. You even sometimes call them nicknames now!

After playing with them every single day, you had finally managed to tell them that you didn’t go to school in Miyagi and that you live in Tokyo instead. Needless to say, Oikawa was saddened at the fact that you would eventually have to go back to Tokyo after summer break but you had promised the two boys that you’d try to keep in touch by calling them every now and then. 

On the day of your birthday, the two boys were invited to spend it with you at your grandpa Ukai’s house. The weather was perfect and it wasn’t sticky and hot for once.

As soon as it came, it was finally time to go back to Tokyo. Before leaving you had met up with Oikawa and Iwaizumi once more to give them thank you gifts. This summer would have truly been different had you not met those two and you were very thankful for having the chance to meet the two.

You hand over a volleyball keychain (one that looked exactly like the one you owned) to Oikawa and a godzilla keychain to Iwaizumi. The two boys smiled at your present.

“Thank you for spending your summer with me Oikawa nii-san and Iwaizumi nii-san! You have to keep in touch with me okay? I’ll try to come back during my school breaks as much as possible so don’t forget me!” you flash a toothy smile at the two boys.

“Of course Y/N-chan, how can we ever forget about you?” Oikawa teases you as he goes to pat your head, thanking you for the keychain along the way.

“Don’t be a troublemaker and run away like last time especially in Tokyo, we won’t be there to find you ok?” Iwaizumi replies, reaching to ruffle your hair as a means of thanking you for the keychain.

With a small pout you say “Hey no fair! I thought that you promised me that you won’t bring that up anymore!”

“Ok ok I won’t talk about it anymore ok? Now go, your parents are waiting” the spiky haired boy says as he laughs.

As you wave bye to your two new friends, you smile with excitement just thinking about the next time that you’ll be back in Miyagi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello once again!
> 
> To start, i'm sorry the my uploads are so random but I honestly don't have a set schedule and I just post chapters when I finish writing them so it takes a while to write and edit. This chapter was slightly heavier, but it was also a necessary chapter. Not only does it have a huge connection with the future plot but also Y/N finally meets Oikawa and Iwaizumi! Now that we got the foundation down in terms of setting up for the future plot, I really want to start writing about more interactions between the boys and Y/N. 
> 
> Also, thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and leaving kudos! Even though it's not much but we have gotten over 100 hits. I honestly never expected much but i'm glad that people are interested in reading! I will work hard so that you all stay and keep reading!
> 
> Thank you once again and see you in the next chapter!


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